1. Field
This invention pertains to balls and toys used in various hitting and kicking games. In particular, it pertains to a variable flight decorative toy, which can be used for kicking, catching, or hitting, with or without a racket or paddle.
2. State of the Art
Various types of balls, footbags, spherical throwing and catching devices, and shuttlecocks for use in games are known. For example, Brooker, U.S. Pat. No. 4,267,217 discloses a ball with a supporting shell fitting over a spherical core, having a plurality of spaced projections extending radially therefrom. Bench, U.S. Pat. No. 3,604,352, discloses a spherical free fall apparatus having airfoils to cause spin of the apparatus about its axis of rotation for the purpose of causing said apparatus to precess in its glide path to control the flight characteristics. Paranto, U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,141, discloses a novelty ball formed of a resilient compressible material with a plurality of flexible whiskers which drape when the ball is at rest. Huei Mei Chen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,926, discloses a spherical throwing and catching device comprised of a substantially spherical hollow body into which is inserted a steel ball. Attached to the hollow body is a large number of unitary, fine, floppy, elastic, circular rod-like filaments which uniformly radiate to form a hedgehog-like spherical body.
Buckland, U.S. Pat. No. 4,657,262, discloses a badminton shuttlecock with an adjustable base and ring which alter the feathers to adjust the speed and flight of the shuttlecock. Mroz, U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,518 discloses a kicking toy having a plurality of flexible strands disposed in a circular pattern with their out ends substantially coterminous, and their inner ends tightly bunched between two parts of an elastomer kicking center, which may be weighted to provide the desired flight of the toy.
None of the foregoing provides a decorative, variable flight, multi-purpose toy, which can be used as a footbag or shuttlecock-type toy for use as a kicking, catching, and/or flying object used with or without a racket.